Territorial control in Sudan – October 2025

KHARTOUM – Nearly three years into Sudan’s brutal war, the conflict has entered a more fragmented and entrenched phase. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to fight across multiple fronts for control of strategic highways, towns, and regional capitals, as the battle lines shift slowly but decisively across the country’s two western regions.

Both sides claim advances, yet the reality on the ground shows a country deeply divided and exhausted. The army still maintains its foothold across most of Sudan’s north, east and center — including White Nile, Khartoum, Al Jazira, Kassala, River Nile, Northern, Gedaref, Red Sea, Blue Nile, and Sennar states. The RSF, meanwhile, dominates much of western Sudan.

The war, which erupted in April 2023, has stretched both forces to their limits. Each now depends heavily on allied militias and tribal forces to sustain their frontlines. The following assessment summarizes the territorial situation in October 2025, based on field reports, eyewitness accounts, satellite imagery, and local verification by Sudans Post correspondents.

Kordofan Region

In the Kordofan front, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are struggling to push westward from El Obeid in North Kordofan toward Darfur, while also attempting to relieve their encircled 54^th Infantry Brigade stationed in Dilling, South Kordofan State. The army’s principal objective is to reopen supply lines leading to El Fasher, the last major city in Darfur still under its control.

El Obeid itself remains semi-besieged. The RSF controls Jabra El Sheikh, which sits along the main highway linking Khartoum to North Kordofan. In May, the army partially broke the siege on El Obeid by reopening the Kosti–Rahad–Umm Ruwaba corridor.

It was aided by Islamist militias such as Baraa Bin Malik, the Sudan Shield Forces, and remnants of the Joint Forces made up of former Darfur rebel groups. However, attempts to secure the northern highway linking El-Obeid to Khartoum have largely failed, despite the army’s recapture of Bara last month.

Currently, SAF control extends between El Obeid and Bara, while the RSF dominates the northern stretch of the Al-Sadarat (Inqaz Al-Gharbi) highway up to Gabra El Sheikh and the surrounding countryside.

The RSF’s control begins at Um Gaeir (13°52’41.49″N 30°26’31.74″E), stretches through Gabra El Sheikh (14°33’44.03″N 30°45’1.71″E), and reaches as far as Al-Sheikh Kabashi (14°43’20.29″N 30°58’14.52″E). To the northeast, the group also holds Um Sayalla (14°23’39.95″N 31°8’8.60″E), while the army retains control of Umm Dam (13°46’2.48″N 31°0’20.34″E) and the surrounding areas.

West of El Obeid, the army controls Umm Sumaima (13°7’33.71″N 29°36’58.76″E), while the RSF controls Hunaiter and most of West Kordofan State, with the exception of Babanusa (11°19’38.28″N 27°48’31.35″E), where SAF’s 22^nd Infantry Division remains stationed.

South of El Obeid, territorial lines are less clear. In early September, the RSF briefly captured a signpost outside Kazgil, prompting unverified SAF claims of recapture. Sudans Post considers Kazgil contested due to the absence of credible verification.

From Kazgil southward, the RSF controls towns along the road to Dilling, including Al-Hamadi and Al-Debeibat, both in El-Goz Locality of South Kordofan. The army, however, maintains control over Dilling, Kadugli, Abu Kershola, and Abu Jubeiha, where its 14^th Infantry Division is based.

Around Dilling, a joint force comprising SPLA-North fighters and RSF units operates, while around Kadugli, the state capital that’s controlled by SAF, the SPLA-North forces dominate, controlling vast zones with the exception of Talodi, separated by Kauda, their long-held stronghold.

In West Kordofan, RSF control is almost total, extending across Al-Fula, Al-Nahud, Al-Kuwei, Mujlad, and Al-Meiram, with the exception of Babanusa and Heglig, both held by the army. The RSF front line runs through Suq Al-Qaria (10°15’48.74″N 29°6’9.06″E), roughly 35 kilometers northwest of Heglig, and up to Keresana. SAF control of Heglig from the north ends at (10°17’57.28″N 29°18’43.57″E).

To the west of Heglig lies New Garia, a small settlement jointly held by South Sudan’s SPLA-IO and Sudanese army units from the 90^th Infantry Brigade. Further north, the RSF’s control expands toward Abyei’s Amiet (Al-Naam Market) at (9°42’47.98″N 28°28’2.42″E). South of Abyei town, areas such as Athony and Aneet remain under the control of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF).

Darfur Region

Across Darfur, the RSF maintains control of four out of five states — East, South, Central, and West Darfur — while the Sudan Liberation Army–Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLA-AW) holds positions in Jebel Mara, spanning both Central and North Darfur.

In North Darfur, RSF forces dominate nearly all territory outside El Fasher and a few scattered pockets in the northwest. They control Zamzam, Melit, Maliha, and Koma, while the army and allied Joint Forces composed of former Darfur rebels control the entire of the Wadi Hawar depression, stretching from Tina and Kornoi across the desert to Atrun and Daba in Northern State.

The RSF also holds areas north and south of Wadi Hawar, including Maliha, Zuruq (15°5’46.75″N 24°48’24.62″E), and Karb al-Tom (20°13’26.36″N 25°30’0.65″E), extending into the border triangle with Libya and Chad.

El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, remains the center of the war’s western front and the last significant urban area still held by the Sudanese army. The RSF has encircled the city, advancing deep into its urban core, with clashes reported this week inside the Medical Corps and Armored Corps compounds in central El Fasher.